On a different and very sad note, some Italian scientists were convicted of manslaughter for not providing adequate warning about an earthquake that killed some 300 People.

I honestly don't know the scientific arguments around this case so please correct me if I'm way off base here, but my gut reaction is that holding people criminally responsible for something like this, even if they read the warning signs wrong, is a dangerously slippery slope.

Fridmarr wrote:On a different and very sad note, some Italian scientists were convicted of manslaughter for not providing adequate warning about an earthquake that killed some 300 People.

I honestly don't know the scientific arguments around this case so please correct me if I'm way off base here, but my gut reaction is that holding people criminally responsible for something like this, even if they read the warning signs wrong, is a dangerously slippery slope.

I think is a poor translation, as what is happening is similarly idiot but slightly different.

There was some retard trying to make a name for himself and announcing a big one coming based on some radon crap, gained quite a following and there was panic in the population, so these scientists invited to calm and pushed in the opposite direction, preaching calm and trying to chill out people saying that was just a quake swarm and nothing big was coming.

Based on these they have put on trial the scientists trying to calm the public, as they claim that by inviting the population to chill and saying that nothing was coming, the population didn't react properly when the big one came.

What pisses me off is not only that they have put on trial the people that tried to avoid panic spread, but that the retard that started and fuelled all the panic is not being trialled instead.

degre wrote:I think is a poor translation, as what is happening is similarly idiot but slightly different.

There was some retard trying to make a name for himself and announcing a big one coming based on some radon crap, gained quite a following and there was panic in the population, so these scientists invited to calm and pushed in the opposite direction, preaching calm and trying to chill out people saying that was just a quake swarm and nothing big was coming.

Based on these they have put on trial the scientists trying to calm the public, as they claim that by inviting the population to chill and saying that nothing was coming, the population didn't react properly when the big one came.

What pisses me off is not only that they have put on trial the people that tried to avoid panic spread, but that the retard that started and fuelled all the panic is not being trialled instead.

Correct me if I have it wrong, but what I think you're saying is a guy predicted a big one, then the rational scientists calmed people down so they weren't prepared when the big one came. Whether through luck, legitimate science, or quackery, it sounds to me as if the original guy did predict a big one, so why should he be put on trial? He may have something with his radon crap that might warrant further investigation. Or it could be dumb luck.

The mayans also didnt use the standard 365 day calander that we use, so unless the people who converted the whole december 21st end of the world nonsense did it before ceasar added leap year a few thousand years ago, it doesnt really matter that the mayans didnt know about leap year. Not that i actually think the world is gonna end, but yeah.

degre wrote:I think is a poor translation, as what is happening is similarly idiot but slightly different.

There was some retard trying to make a name for himself and announcing a big one coming based on some radon crap, gained quite a following and there was panic in the population, so these scientists invited to calm and pushed in the opposite direction, preaching calm and trying to chill out people saying that was just a quake swarm and nothing big was coming.

Based on these they have put on trial the scientists trying to calm the public, as they claim that by inviting the population to chill and saying that nothing was coming, the population didn't react properly when the big one came.

What pisses me off is not only that they have put on trial the people that tried to avoid panic spread, but that the retard that started and fuelled all the panic is not being trialled instead.

Correct me if I have it wrong, but what I think you're saying is a guy predicted a big one, then the rational scientists calmed people down so they weren't prepared when the big one came. Whether through luck, legitimate science, or quackery, it sounds to me as if the original guy did predict a big one, so why should he be put on trial? He may have something with his radon crap that might warrant further investigation. Or it could be dumb luck.

Giuliani bases his claims on some radon researches that have been done now for some 50 years and that proved to be unreliable.

In presence of a quake you have radon release, so the theory is that by monitoring for it you should be able to predict when a quake comes. This theory unfortunately doesn't work as we have plenty of data with massive quakes releasing close to no radon against minor seismic events barely registered by equipment showing huge releases. There is plenty of data online and anyone who's done some researching into it can confirm you the same thing, radon is not reliable.

This brings us back to Giuliani, he's a lab assistant or something that's been messing with radon theories for a while without any evident result, he already had a history of predicting quakes, and failing at it.

In this specific case everyone suspected something major could happen, it was months that a quake swarm was at work in that area, so his prediction was as reliable as the one of your average citizen that has been living for months with the ground shacking: 'A big one is coming!' His actual prediction was wrong, as he predicted another place miles away and with a different timing, which means that if authorities would have given him credit they could have ended up clearing a town where nothing was going to happen with the sole result of interrupting normal life there, maybe some people could have even found shelter in l'Aquila and could have resulted in an even bigger tally count.

Hence yeah, for me he should see the shit end of the stick and pay the price for the bollocks he said.

Skye1013 wrote:The Mayans didn't have leap year, so unless they're just that good at predicting that we'd create leap year... the world actually ended a few months ago and we just haven't realized it yet.

Indeed. We're all characters living in a post-apocalyptic setting now.